O'Fallon considers building traffic circle
By William Lamb
Of the Post-Dispatch
02/24/2005
City is considering
building roundabout
Aim is to relieve
traffic congestion
To ease traffic flow and reduce congestion at State Street and North Green Mount Road, the city of O'Fallon may turn to an increasingly popular traffic-control device: the roundabout.
Walter Denton, O'Fallon's city administrator, said that complaints about congestion at the intersection have increased steadily since 2001, when a $6.2 million interchange opened at North Green Mount Road and Interstate 64.
A $45 million shopping center, anchored by a Target store and a Dierbergs grocery store, opened a year later, transforming North Green Mount Road into a major north-south artery.
Currently, traffic at North Green Mount Road and State Street, west of O'Fallon's downtown, is controlled by two stop signs facing northbound and southbound traffic. North Green Mount Road becomes Obernuefemann Road north of State Street.
A 2004 traffic study by Woolpert Inc., an engineering and consulting firm, "concluded that traffic conditions warranted additional controls at that intersection," Denton said.
"The issue is, because of the volume of traffic on State Street and the increasing volume on Obernuefemann, it is difficult for cars to get across," Denton said, "particularly since Obernuefemann is the primary road to get to one of our elementary schools, (J. Emmett) Hinchcliffe Elementary."
Dennis Sullivan, the city engineer, has proposed building a $220,000 roundabout to help move traffic through the intersection. Because the city has not budgeted any money for upgrades at the intersection, Denton said, officials are investigating grants at the state and federal level.
Roundabouts, or traffic circles, have been popular for decades in Europe and Australia, but have become popular in the United States only recently. The first roundabout in the Metro East area, in Highland, debuted last August.
A 2000 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety compared accidents and injuries at 24 intersections before and after the construction of roundabouts. The study found that roundabouts led to a 39 percent decrease in accidents overall and a 76 percent drop in accidents with injuries.
The city is still weighing its options for improving traffic flow at the intersection and has not committed to any particular course of action. According to Denton, other options include:
Making the intersection a four-way stop. Cost: $25,000.
Making the intersection a four-way stop with four new turning lanes (one in each direction). Cost: $170,000.
Installing traffic signals. Cost: $110,000
Installing traffic signals with four new turning lanes. Cost: $250,000.
Building an overpass. Cost: $13 million.
Denton said the overpass option was prohibitively expensive. He said that he expected the city's public safety committee to review the options and that the interchange upgrades would probably begin this year.
Reporter William Lamb
E-mail: wlamb@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-235-6142
By William Lamb
Of the Post-Dispatch
02/24/2005
City is considering
building roundabout
Aim is to relieve
traffic congestion
To ease traffic flow and reduce congestion at State Street and North Green Mount Road, the city of O'Fallon may turn to an increasingly popular traffic-control device: the roundabout.
Walter Denton, O'Fallon's city administrator, said that complaints about congestion at the intersection have increased steadily since 2001, when a $6.2 million interchange opened at North Green Mount Road and Interstate 64.
A $45 million shopping center, anchored by a Target store and a Dierbergs grocery store, opened a year later, transforming North Green Mount Road into a major north-south artery.
Currently, traffic at North Green Mount Road and State Street, west of O'Fallon's downtown, is controlled by two stop signs facing northbound and southbound traffic. North Green Mount Road becomes Obernuefemann Road north of State Street.
A 2004 traffic study by Woolpert Inc., an engineering and consulting firm, "concluded that traffic conditions warranted additional controls at that intersection," Denton said.
"The issue is, because of the volume of traffic on State Street and the increasing volume on Obernuefemann, it is difficult for cars to get across," Denton said, "particularly since Obernuefemann is the primary road to get to one of our elementary schools, (J. Emmett) Hinchcliffe Elementary."
Dennis Sullivan, the city engineer, has proposed building a $220,000 roundabout to help move traffic through the intersection. Because the city has not budgeted any money for upgrades at the intersection, Denton said, officials are investigating grants at the state and federal level.
Roundabouts, or traffic circles, have been popular for decades in Europe and Australia, but have become popular in the United States only recently. The first roundabout in the Metro East area, in Highland, debuted last August.
A 2000 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety compared accidents and injuries at 24 intersections before and after the construction of roundabouts. The study found that roundabouts led to a 39 percent decrease in accidents overall and a 76 percent drop in accidents with injuries.
The city is still weighing its options for improving traffic flow at the intersection and has not committed to any particular course of action. According to Denton, other options include:
Making the intersection a four-way stop. Cost: $25,000.
Making the intersection a four-way stop with four new turning lanes (one in each direction). Cost: $170,000.
Installing traffic signals. Cost: $110,000
Installing traffic signals with four new turning lanes. Cost: $250,000.
Building an overpass. Cost: $13 million.
Denton said the overpass option was prohibitively expensive. He said that he expected the city's public safety committee to review the options and that the interchange upgrades would probably begin this year.
Reporter William Lamb
E-mail: wlamb@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 618-235-6142
